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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Celebrating Charlie Parker

Events worldwide marking the centenary of the birth of Charlie Parker (August 29, 1920) have been scaled back to due to the ongoing pandemic. Concerts with socially distanced audiences, behind-closed-doors live streams and radio and television programmes will commemorate the occasion. One way or another it shouldn't be too difficult to catch something over the next few days.

Thursday (Aug 27) at Ronnie Scott's could prove to be a highlight among highlights. The latest in the Frith Street, Soho club's Return Sessions features Gilad Atzmon with a string quartet live streaming from 7:00pm. When it comes to playing the music of Charlie Parker, alto saxophonist Atzmon is arguably as good as anyone on the planet. Joining Atzmon will be the ace rhythm section of Ross Stanley, piano, Dave Whitfield, bass, Chris Higginbottom, drums and the Sigamos String Quartet (Ros Stephen, violin, Marianne Haynes, violin, Felix Tanner, viola and Laura Anstee, cello). 


On Saturday (one hundred years to the day of Parker's birth) Mark Toomey will be live streaming at two o'clock from St Peter's Church, Stockton. Toomey readily concedes that live stream technology is new to him so, check out the alto saxophonist's Facebook page (and possibly YouTube). The alto saxophonist's regular quartet - Jeremy McMurray, piano, Peter Ayton, bass and drummer Paul Smith - will be alongside him on what promises to be a grand occasion.  

If you happen to be in Kansas City on Saturday (you neve know!) the American Jazz Museum will be presenting a marathon twelve hours of performances dedicated to Bird. The action begins at 7:00am (!) when the first of many bands takes to the stage, culminating at 5:30pm with the great Bobby Watson. You'll be there? Write a review! 

BBC Radio 3's J to Z (Saturday, 5:00pm), presented by Julian Joseph, is dedicated to Bird and his legacy. Guests include Sheila Jordan, Django Bates, Nathaniel Facey and Alan Barnes. When it comes to Charlie Parker this lot know what they're talking about!

And to Sunday. At St James' and St Basil's Church, Fenham, Newcastle (3:00pm) pianist Dean Stockdale, in the company of Mick Shoulder, bass and drummer Russ Morgan will be playing a few numbers associated with Charlie Parker together with some original material. The concert in the church grounds is weather dependent. The forecast is reasonably favourable (13° 'with a low chance of precipitation'). Bird Lives!  
Russell                 

2 comments :

Lance said...

Russell - you omitted to mention the Jazz Coop's celebration at the Globe on Sept. 6! The Alan Law Trio with Jordan Alfonso on alto promises to be really special. Mark Toomey's gig, which has already been profiled by Mark himself also looks good - when it comes to paying tribute to Bird then you need an alto player who can handle it - these guys can.

I love Dean Stockdale's piano playing - he is one of the best - but I find that, on such an auspicious occasion, to pay only lip service to the man is disappointing to say the least. In normal times, on that weekend, alto sax players would be in greater demand than bagpipers on New Year's Eve. However, these aren't normal times so I'm sure there would have been some musicians available. How about a tribute to Oscar Peterson without a pianist?

Or did the church object to Parker's lifestyle?

Russell said...

Lance - I omitted, but didn't ignore or forget about Jordan's forthcoming gig. It is simply that the Jazz Co-op gig is a week or more after the Bird 'weekend'. Jordan's gig is one I'd love to be at!

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